$100 in 1927 is worth $1,339 in 2013,
because prices increased 1238.8% over that period, an average of
3.06% a year.
$100 in 1927 has
the same buying power as
$1,339
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1238.8%
Average inflation rate
3.06% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,339
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,239
CPI in 1927
17.4
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1927
-1.69%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1927 → 2013
$1,339
$100 in 2013 → 1927
$7.47
What happened to prices between 1927 and 2013
Between 1927 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.4 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1238.8%, which works out to an average of
3.06% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1927 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2013: the 1927 dollar
lost 92.5% of its purchasing power over
these 86 years.
Consumer prices fell 1.7% in 1927, a mild retreat after three years of
gradual increases and part of a shallow up-and-down pattern that ran through
the second half of the decade. Aviation delivered the year’s signature
moment: Charles Lindbergh departed Roosevelt Field, New York, on May 20 and
landed at Le Bourget Field outside Paris roughly 33.5 hours later, the first
person to fly the Atlantic solo and nonstop. Detroit closed a chapter of its
own that May, when Ford halted the Model T’s production line after nearly 19
years and more than 15 million cars sold, idling tens of thousands of
workers while its factories retooled for the Model A. The Federal Reserve,
meeting with European central bankers that summer, cut its discount rate to
ease pressure on currencies still recovering from the war, a move later
cited by economists including Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz as fuel for
the stock market speculation that built through the following two years.
First-class postage held at 2 cents.
Every 1927 amount converts to 2013 at the same ratio, 13.39: $1,000 becomes
$13,388, and $10,000 becomes $133,883.
Amount in 1927
Value in 2013
$1.00
$13.39
$5.00
$66.94
$10.00
$134
$20.00
$268
$50.00
$669
$100
$1,339
$500
$6,694
$1,000
$13,388
$5,000
$66,942
$10,000
$133,883
$100,000
$1,338,833
$1,000,000
$13,388,333
Inflation by spending category, 1927–2013
Between 1927 and 2013, food rose the most, up 1345.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 403.6%, against 1238.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1927
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1927 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.06%
$1,339
Food
3.15%
$1,445
Apparel
1.90%
$504
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1927: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1927 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1927–2013 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1927, at end
1927–1930
-1.36%
-4.0%
$95.98
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$80.46
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$139
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$170
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$223
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$474
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$751
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$990
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,253
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$1,339
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1927
$100 from 1927 had already become $240 by
1972, on its way to $1,339 in 2013; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 14.4% in 1947, and prices fell 9.9% in 1932, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1927 had the buying
power of $1,339; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1927 to 2013: $100 is worth $1,339 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1927 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2013/